The dreaded phone call. Having a great day until the phone rings...

MTcycle

MTcycle

MTcycle
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I'm sharing this so we can all ride carefully out there. Your people want you to have fun on your bike, but they want to hear you come home from your ride.

I was having a great day Saturday enjoying great weather and hoping to ride soon. My best friend called from Calif. (caller ID) and we haven't talked since we both got back from vacations in the southwest. He was riding his Harley with friends in Ariz. and I was in Utah. It will be good to catch up. But he wasn't on the phone, it was his wife...

He was riding home from visiting with friends (in San Jose) a week ago and crashed bad. No one witnessed the wreck, but his riding buddy who came up behind him said he thought he might have high sided. Dodging a cat on the highway? It was dark. A week on life support with serious brain trauma is bad news. All the other injuries will be dealt with if he can get past the brain issues. Gabby Giffords pulled through.

Was he wearing his full face or his barely there cool guy helmet? Don't know, but I bet it was the non DOT beanie. I'll give him shit for this if I see him again. :banghead:

So my wife says "are you going to sell your bike?" Spent all winter working on it. Love to ride, but never want to do this to my wife. Have to be extra careful and see how it goes. This sucks.
 
I feel for you on this one and can relate (unfortunately) to a few from my circle who have gone before in similar fashion. The best we can do in the interest of safety on our bikes is none too good. Our own interests sake should be enough but; if not, for the loved ones sake.

Some time....some perspective....council with friends. Be well, best wishes. Blue
 
We all know there is a risk when it comes to riding, and we would be lying to ourselves if we pretend that it doesn't exist. But there is risk in life everyday, and all we can do is take the proper precautions. It hurts me to hear that this happened, Im hoping for the best for your friend and anyone affected by this, and you have our support!
 
Sorry to hear about your phone call and your friend. Life is here and then it's not. The reaper gathers who he wants. Bikers, people of all ages. No one knows when or why shit happens. Had a friend fall in his kitchen hit his head on the counter top. Brain dead his wife pulled the plug a week later. Ride on brother. Life goes on. If he hit his head fucking would your wife have asked to quit that.
 
Thanks for all the good wishes. Just found out they upgraded his condition a notch. Which is great news. Also confirmed he was wearing the skull cap. I'm hopeful that I'll get to have that talk.
Thanks again.
 
I'm sorry to hear of your friend's injury. My best wishes for a speedy recovery.

It's not just bikes; on Valentine's Day this year my stepbrother was driving to work early in the morning, crossed the center line and hit another car head on. He finally got out of the hospital about ten days ago, but at least he's alive.
 
I am sorry to hear about your friends accident. Recovering from one myself from October 2011. Not back to work yet but I'm back on the bikes.Of all things (after 42 years of riding)I got smacked by another motorcycle coming around the same corner in the other direction. Only difference I was going the speed limit and he was 30-40 MPH over. After waking up I was glade I had on my full face and leather jacket, although it didn't help my leg much. Let us know how he's doing and I hope the best for him and his family.
 
glad to hear they brought him up a notch on the health meter. dont sell the bike. you could slip and become brain dead closing the garage right after selling your bike. if you were on your bike you could be fine. cant live your life scared.
 
cros36 is right, can't live your life in fear. There is no way to be 100% safe, for instance the CDC says (on average) 450 people die falling out of bed every year.

I got hit in the head with a dead tree limb once, it went through the eyeport of my helmet and wedged between my head and the helmet, yanked me off the bike as it broke. There was a small red rash beside my left eye, a chunk was bitten out of my goggle foam and my Shoei helmet had a dent in the Styrofoam liner. Had it hit another 2" to the right I wouldn't be here.

I take reasonable precautions (full coverage helmet, ride like I'm invisible) and accept there is that chance... after the tree limb incident my ex demanded that I quit, I told her I could choose to spend my life sitting on the couch eating junk food and getting fatter by the minute then die of a coronary infarction or kidney disease or some other sloth/obesity related aliment or I could do what I always loved and take a chance. Door #2, please.
 
Today doctors took off his neck brace & said no spinal injury. Eyes open & responding to some verbal stuff, but not all. Suffered 2 strokes but Dr. expected that & was glad. Will be a long haul.

Really appreciate all the responses to the post. Fear is when you OD on caution. I'm just seeking to learn how to minimize the risk and I see many things my friend could have done to help himself out. Traction fails, gravity wins and bikes go down. It happens all the time. Be safe and keep the rubber side down.
 
Best wishes.....Things like this cause us to re-process our own practices, use of safety equipment and lifestyle compatibility with the recreational sport activity we've chosen. I wish I had words of meaningful consolation but; of course I don't.

After our talk....I thought of the project I was once doing for/with a friend who decided that he wanted the bike to have no front wheel brake. I did the best I could to change his mind but; finally had to tell him that I couldn't participate and withdrew.

We all have to process matters like this our own way. I'm convinced that sharing this process you're going through, can help both oneself and others. Thanks Mt Cycle. Be well... you're a caring friend and in a way you're paying it forward. Best, Blue
 
Last edited:
So my wife says "are you going to sell your bike?"
Click to expand...
40,000 people a year die in car accidents. Sell the car? Stop driving?
I could have sold all my bikes and it wouldn't have stopped me from getting cancer. (all good now...)
So all you can do is ride, or drive, smart and wear proper protective gear and enjoy life. :)
Glad to hear your friend will be well enough for you to "have that talk"
 
MT, this sounds like great news, all things considered. I'm feeling relief for you, your friend, and all those potentially affected by this incident.

TC
 
Car crashes are a perfect example.

I ride alot of mountain bike, and commute by bicycle to work. I wear a little helmet that I recently cracked in a low speed crash on pavement. I laid on the ground for a little bit for even as a motorcyclist I'd call a minor incident.

In a car, you've got your airbag (maybe) and your on the road with commercial trucks, huge SUV's and trucks, drunk drivers, careless drivers, new drivers txting, and any number of different cases. They all can be careless, and in as instant swerve into your lane.

What I always tell people about bicycles and motorcycle is that your not DRIVING these two wheel machines. You are a sack of flesh and bone hurtling down the slab at 20-150mph.

If you want to put around a scooter under 30mph around your neighborhood or city, and you just want to wear a 3/4 helmet...thats fine, but just because your riding slower doesn't mean you should ride anymore care free.

If you want to ride at 75mph on a touring trip to the arctic circle, thats awesome, but dont assume because you've been riding all your life that just your helmet will save you.

In the end you've got realize that we as average humans arent made to move faster than 15mph. We're not made to take the hard impacts of concrete, and the immense forces in an accident whether in car or on motorcycle.

Too many people forget this, and become careless drivers.

Soon after...they become careless riders.

Posted via Mobile
 
There was a young firefighter here in Arizona who went up north for the weekend to cooler weather and camp out. Storm came up in middle of night, lightening strikes tree near him, tree falls over and kills him while he slept in tent. Friend nearby wasn't harmed. Who would think?
jefft
 
"he wouldn't have wanted us to wipe has ass" Nope. Here's to the fallen... keep on rolling... just got the worst call.
 

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